MoMA, Floor 5, 507 The Alfred H. Barr, Jr. Galleri
Location History:
Acquisition possible by the efforts of George and Zinaida Costakis, and through the Nate B. and Frances Spingold, Matthew H. and Erna Futter, and Enid A. Haupt Funds
At the time of the Russian revolution, the Bolsheviks opposed the Tsarist autocratic government. This social clash was also reflected in the visual culture of the time, where the imperial grandiosity and traditional religious mysticism began to be replaced by a language that used industrial materials. This was constructivism, developed by Alexander Rodchenko along with a few other contemporaries. Constructivists believed that art should have a primary goal of being a driving force in the development of the society, and its aesthetics should only be secondary to this. In accordance with this idea, constructivist art used non-conventional materials. As we see in the piece 'Spatial Construction No. 12', Rodchenko uses plywood and wire, partially painting them using aluminium paint. Rodchenko, born in 1891 in St. petersburg, Russia liked to refer to himself as a designer and visual communicator rather than as an artist. 'Spatial Construction No. 12' appropriately showcases his approach towards art. The peice isn't a conventional work and is suspended from the ceiling, by a wire, giving it a spatially unbounded character. With the wind, the plywood elements change postions and along with that the shadows also rearrange themselves making the peice visually fluid. The light weight of the material aids the movement and makes the peice non rigid. This in turn redefines the relationship between art and its environment along with it being a powerful instance of constructivist principles.
The above given article is a fine example art in constructivism. Highly influenced by the cubist art form of Spanish artist Pablo Picasso, the constructivist art, pioneered and introduced by Vladimir Tatlin believed that art should reflect the social life, ideas and struggles of it'd contemporary period i.e the early twentieth century when industrialization was at its height in Europe and it had also began to shape the then Russian society. The above artwork, which belongs to the period of Bolshevik uprising against the Tsarist monarchy not only reflects the raised voice of a politically charged common mass, aware of its rights against an autocratic regime, but also reflects the changing socio economic fabric of the then Russian society which wanted to move from the age old stagnant feudal order to progressive, equitable industrial nation.
